If you had two identical race cars, one a Plain Jane and the other a stunning super model, but they were identically prepared, there wouldn't be any theoretical difference between them in on-track performance. But there would be a considerable difference in a very important way.

Dayton, Ohio's Larry Miller, who owns Ham Signs explains, "Having a dazzling car gets everybody's attention, including potential sponsors who just might visualize how their company's name would look on your sheetmetal."

2/18A vinyl wrap can turn your plain jane racer into a multi-colored beauty almost too gorgeous to jeopardize on the track. When cars with certain vinyl designs are pushed into the sun, they really light up and sparkle!

Miller specializes in creating that dazzling look. He has worked with numerous racers in and around the Midwest including some major superstars such as Jeff Gordon, Dale Blaney, Kasey Kahne, Kenny Irwin, Jack Hewitt, Joey Saldana, and Ryan Newman just to name a few.

Miller learned the art of hand painting from Indy 500 painter Jake Dixon when he was only 14. He started his business in 1991 after dabbling a few years in Sprint Car racing. "I got tired of running last or crashing," he lamented. "But I loved racing, so Ham Signs gives me the opportunity to stay connected to the sport.

During his early years, Larry did a lot of that old-school hand painting of cars. He says that it took a long time to do, but he will still break out the brushes and do a little of it for customers who like that vintage look. But today, it's the vinyl look that everybody likes and Miller is heavy into it.

He explained that the modern vinyl covering is very durable and can last three to five years outdoors

Ham Signs is a small operation which includes his brother, Jamie. Coordination is a key to this team operation between the brothers as much of this tedious work requires two sets of hands. Many stock car bodies carry one-piece vinyl strips which can be up to 10 feet in length.

Miller explained that the start of the project is the most difficult, that being getting the actual artwork approved by the client. Most of the time, there is little direction from those customers. "You never know what to expect when somebody walks through the door. Some will tell me their colors and number, and to do something that ‘looks good.' Most of the time, I nail it pretty good, but sometimes I don't. Then other times, customers have everything down to great detail and I'm not allowed to deviate from it at all," Larry explained. "The customer is always right, no matter how dumb his layout idea. In that case, I often try to convince him to use my idea, and 95 percent of the time I will change his mind."

Most of Larry's business is with the Sprint Car community, but he'll design and create wraps for any division such as Street Stocks, Modifieds, race haulers, trailers, pit equipment, and more. Interestingly, there are also many police cars in the Dayton area that have been given the Ham treatment.

When we caught up with Larry he was in the process of completely wrapping an E-Mod for a local racer. He uses a modern solvent printer with a lamination capability. The results, as you'll see, are truly amazing. The printers are costly—real costly—but their capabilities provide a huge time reduction and deliver a greater quality end product. He explained that the modern vinyl covering is very durable and can last three to five years outdoors.

Further adding to the benefits of a solvent inkjet printer is the type of designs that can be created. The finished vinyl wrap can be layered two-deep, as illustrated here, with the gold/red fluorescents on the primary sponsor's name. The added gold-leaf look delivers an irredescence to the car when hit by sunlight or by the track lights when racing at night.

The machine's versatility allows Miller to do a lot with a design based on the customer's wishes. "Some car owners want to recognize every sponsor, no matter how small. This particular Modified has 29 sponsors and every one of them is there. I think it makes the car a little busy, like a NASCAR machine, and I wish that they only had about four," Miller said. "But remember, the customer is always right!"

18/1816 The head-on shot of the finished product. Miller managed to squeeze in all 29 of the race team’s sponsors and still make the car look great.